Bill Baird Dominates and Claims 1st Place at Rausch

June 4, 2012-Pine Grove, PA: 2011 Ultra4 Rookie of the Year, Bill Baird claimed his first Ultra4 Win last weekend at the 2012 Rausch Creek Qualifier. The Rausch Creek race was the first race in the 2012 4WD Hardware Ultra4 East Coast Regional Series. Rausch Creek offers a unique terrain unlike any other stop on Ultra4 Racing circuit. The course is tree-lined and narrow, and in years past has been likend more to a mud bog than a rock crawling course due to the heavy spring time rains. In 2012, the event was moved back several weeks in hopes of avoiding some of the rain and mud. However, as luck would have it, the night before the race saw weather forecasts issuing tornado and flash flood warnings.

Despite the prior night’s rainstorm, Saturday morning featured clear skies as current King of The Hammers winner, Erik Miller lined up side-by-side with Ultra4 veteran Derek West. West had the fastest qualifying time with Miller only 3 seconds behind. The 2nd row saw former King, Jason Scherer in his independent front suspension (IFS) vehicle paired with Bill Baird in his newly acquired Campbell Enterprises IFS car. Both Scherer and Miller fought vehicle problems early in the race, allowing West and Baird to gain a considerable lead and a chance at first place. Throughout the first three laps racing was fierce between the two, with first place alternating back and forth several times. As both drivers were minutes from completing their 4th lap, West suffered from a broken drive shaft and was forced to run back to the pits for parts leaving Baird to maintain a healthy lead over 2nd place finisher, Jason Shipman. Baird dominated the remaining laps and finished 36 minutes ahead of Shipman and 50 minutes ahead of 3rd place finisher Lucas Murphy who beat out Tony Reitdorf by less than a minute.

Of the top 10 finishers, only the current King, Erik Miller was already qualified for the 2013 King of The Hammers. Less than 10 minutes separated the 9th through 13th finishers in the race. Because of this, King of the Hammers founder, Dave Cole awarded an two additional qualifying spots to two drivers outside of the top 10. Normally, Ultra4 takes any non qualified drivers who finish in the top 10.

For those wishing to learn more about Ultra4 Racing or King of the Hammers, be sure to check out Ultra4 racing’s web site: www.ultra4racing.com and become a fan of the Ultra4 facebook page: www.facebook.com/Ultra4racing. The next Ultra4 Series race will be held July 13th at Badlands in Attica, Indiana.